More Ice Cream Weather

Just when we thought the weather was going to remain beautiful for the rest of the season we had a couple of really hot and humid days last week. Those days always remind me why I prefer winter than summer. In the other hand, they are a very good excuse to make ice cream. This time I experimented with two flavors that I had had my eye on for sometime.

When I was at the library last week I saw this book in the New Arrivals section with the words Mexican Cooking in the front (by Jane Milton). I immediately picked it up and decided to take it home when I saw it was filled with many recipes I didn’t even remember existed. One of those was Agua Fresca de Horchata, an aromatic and creamy rice drink that doesn’t contain any milk. I did, however, add some milk to make it ice cream, but I am sure it would’ve worked perfectly without it, too.

This recipe is my entry for The Royal Foodie Joust over at Jenn’s forum. This month we had to create something using whole (non-ground) grains, ginger and any kind of citrus. So this was a perfect match. Originally, horchata doesn’t have any ginger in it, but the addition in this recipe was just delicious.

Rinse rice thoroughly under running water. Cover and soak for at least 2 hours, but it is better to soak overnight.

Drain rice, but reserve 1½ to 2 cups of the liquid.

In a blender or food processor grind the rice as finely as possible. Add some of the soaking liquid if necessary.

Add cinnamon, ginger, vanilla extract and the zest of the lime and continue grinding. Add the rest of the water and milks until everything is well blended.

Transfer to a saucepan and add the egg yolks. Turn heat on to medium low and whisk constantly until the temperature of the mixture reaches around 115ºF or when you can still touch it with your finger but not for long.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before transferring to the ice cream machine.

3.1.09

The second recipe is my entry for Nick’s event The Great Peanut Butter Exhibition #4. This time the theme is No-Bake recipes, perfect for a gelato! I was looking online for gelato recipes and I came across David Lebovitz’s website where I found this fantastic Pistachio Gelato recipe made with cornstarch instead of eggs. However, it took a long time to freeze, I am thinking it was because of the peanut butter, but once it did the texture and the flavor were amazing!

Peanut Butter and banana gelato

Ingredients:

1 can evaporated milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup cornstarch

2 ripe bananas

1/3 cup peanut butter

a few drops of lime juice

Preparation:

Mix 1/2 can evaporated and corn starch together until the starch is dissolved and the mixture smooth.

In a medium size saucepan heat the rest of the evaporated milk and condensed milk.

Smash the bananas and add them to the saucepan along with the peanut butter. Whisk constantly until all the ingredients are mixed together.

When the mixture starts to boil stir in the cornstarch and whisk stir constantly for about 3 minutes. Don’t let the mixture thicken.

Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Freeze following ice cream maker instructions.

Follow ice cream machine instructions and freeze before serving.

The texture of this two frozen desserts are very unique. Because of the ground rice horchata has a grainy texture that some people might not like. The gelato made with the cornstarch, in the other hand, has a very silky texture that I just loved. What’s your favorite ice cream?